Middlesex Canal--An analysis of its accounting and management

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Linda H. Kistler
UNIVERSITY OF LOWELL
THE MIDDLESEX CANAL—AN ANALYSIS OF ITS ACCOUNTING AND MANAGEMENT
Abstract: The paper analyzes the development and subsequent decline of the Mid-dlesex Canal, a twenty-seven mile inland waterway that joined Lowell in northern Massachusetts with Boston and the sea. Built from 1793 to 1804, the canal was an important catalyst in regional economic and transportation development during the early years of the American Industrial Revolution. Data from original financial records of the canal are presented for the period 1825 to 1845 when the canal was most successfully operated. The Middlesex Canal is acknowledged to be a funda-mental element in the early development of Lowell as the center for textile manu-facturing in the United States.
Introduction
Massachusetts, which led the colonies into the American Revolu-tion, proved to be fertile ground in the early nineteenth century for a second revolution—the Industrial Revolution. This paper traces the financial history of the Middlesex Canal, a twenty-seven mile inland waterway which joined the Merrimack River at Lowell with the city of Boston and the sea.1 Introduction of service on the canal marks the beginning of large scale industrial development in New England; and this study analyzes the surviving financial records of the Middlesex Canal from 1793 to 1850 in an attempt to trace the evolution of early corporate accounting practices and financial pro-cesses and to provide insights into the early years of the Industrial Revolution in this country.
Fortunately, many corporate documents have survived and are preserved in the Middlesex Canal Association Archives Collection at the University of Lowell. Existing financial records include lists of stockholders, cash assessment records, minutes of directors' meetings, annual reports of stockholder meetings, accounting ledgers from 1793 to 1824, and reports of the Agent from 1825 to 1844. In addition, numerous bundles of bills, vouchers, regulations, deeds, toll rate schedules, stock certificates and other financial memorabilia may be examined.